Improvement in middlings-separators



G. M OTLE'Y. MIDDLINGS SEPARATO'R. N0.176,879. Patent-ed May 2,1876.

N. PETERS. PNQTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D C improved machine.

UNITED STATES GEORGE MOTLEY, or ROCHESTER, NEW Y RK, "AssIGNOB on ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO JIRAH B. MOSELEY, OF SAME PLACE.

I IMPROVEMEN T IN WllDDLlNGS-SEPARATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 176,879, dated May 2, 1876 application filed January 17, 1876.

dlings-Purifiers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and'exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central vertical section of my Fig. 2 is an elevation of one end of the shaker and inclined bed, showing more particularly the manner of hanging the shaker. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of one of the valves. Fig. 4 is a cross-section of one of a set of valves, which close the air-passages at the rear of the stationary chutes; also, in

the combination of an inclined shaker and bed having a coincident set of vibrating and stationary chutes.

A represents theframe or casin g of the machine, which may be of ordinary construction. B is an exhaust fan and case, set into the frame in such a manner as to draw from the. interior.

0 is the hopper, mounted over the head of the machine, and D is a reel or screen, set into the hopper and revolved by any suitable means. The middlings are fed into the 'reel through a spout at one end, .and the coarse screenings or refuse, separated from the middlin gs, are discharged through a spout passing to the outside of themachine at the other end. The iniddlings pass through the screen and drop down the hopper 0 onto a scattering-board, a, Fi g. '1, and thence are fed to the shelves or chutes of the shaker. b is a slide, .operated'by a rack and pinion, c, by which means the discharge of the 'iniddlings from the scattering-board onto the shaker may be regulated. The pinion is operated by a hand wheel or crank on its shaft, situated outside the machine. E is the shaker, andG is the bed. They consist of rectangular frames set inclined from the head to the foot of the machine, as shown. The bed G is fixed or stationary, but the shaker E is movable, and is vibrated back and forth by the ordinary eccentric d. A space (indicated by the black line, Fig. 1) is left between the shaker and the bed, sufficient to allow the necessary motion of the shaker. The shaker is hung to the bed by rocker-arms ff, Fig. 2, one at the head and one at the foot on each side. The upper end of the rockeris simply pivoted to the side of the shaker, while the lower end is pivoted in any one of a series of holes, 9, in a concentric elevis or stirrup, h, fastened to the bed. The adjustment thus provided enables the shaker to be changed in position or tobe adjusted nearer to or farther fromthe bed itself. 70 k k are a series of shelves or chutes, arranged in the shaker E in successive order, like stairs in a stairway, and extending from beneath the scattering-board a to the discharge-spout j at the tail of the machine. The middlings, passing over these shelves in a thin sheet, are finally discharged through spout j. k 70 k are a corresponding series of fixed shelves, secured in the inclined bed G, and are coincident or in line with the vibrating shelves of the shaker. The two sets of shelves 7a and It thus form passages l I between them, open at both ends, through which air can enter from the outside and pass through the thin sheets of middlings, falling from one shelf to another'of the shaker. These currents of air, acting successively upon the middlings, remove all the fibrous matters and carry them up into the exhaust-fan, while the pure middlings fall from step to step, being also subject to the general draft produced through the whole machine by the suction.

-The result is a thorough purification of the middlings without the use of a brush or screen, which isobjectionable, as they soon wear out. I I I area series of vertical valves, hung at their tops on hinges, and situated 'just in the rear of the air-passages ll. They are connected at their bottoms with a slide-rod, K, by means of elbows p p, which embrace the rod and rest between pins r r, or by any equivalent means. To the rod K is jointed an arm, 8, which is slotted to embrace a screw, t. By pushing this arm in or drawing it out the rod K and valves I I are correspondingly. moved, and the rod K may be secured in any desired position by setting the screw t against the arm 8. The valves I can, therefore, be turned forward, so as to entirely cut off the air-passages Z Z, or opened to any desired extent to regulate the admission of air. This is necessary to adjust the force of the currents to the amount or condition of the middlin gs passing over the shaker.

I am aware that, in itself, a series of steps or shelves over which the middlings pass, and

beneath which currents of air enter, is not new. My invention differs from others in constructing said shelves in double series, one being stationary and the other movable, and also in combining with the same set of valves, so that a valve covers each passage, and all may be adjusted by a common movement. and a greater efficiency in action, since the ingress of air can be gaged just as desired. Another feature in my case is the use of the two inclined frames constituting the shaker This secures simplicity and cheapness,

act more readily and directly upon them, thereby carrying such fibrous matters off into the suction-case, where they are discharged.

Having thus described my invention, I do not claim, broadly, a series of inclined shelves; but

I claim- 1. In a middlings-purifier, the combination,

with the series of graduated shelves k k, of the series of valves I I, hung at the rear of the air-passages formed by saidshelves, and serving to gage the passage of air through the same, substantially as described.

2. In a middlings-purifier, the combination of the two series of shelves k and k, one fixed and the other movable, situated in the same coincident line to form the air-passages l l, as shown and described, and for the purpose specified.

3. In a middlings-purifier, the shaker E and bed G, consisting of two independent rectangular frames, fitting one over the other in the bottom of the machine, one being stationary and the other movable, and each con-. structed with a series of horizontal shelves, those in one frame coming in coincidence or in the same horizontal line with those of the other, thereby forming straight air-passages between the shelves, as shown and described, and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE MOTLEY. Witnesses:

WM. S. MOORE, R. F. OseooD; 

